Thursday, November 29, 2007

This was an image that would not leave my head after a huge loss in my life. I figured I better honor it and let it take form. It's not a "show" piece, but it is a "special" piece.

This is how it looked with the acrylic applied to the W/C paper. I used Delta Ceramcoat Craft paint as it seems to give me the best tooth to apply the colored pencil. You can see the brush strokes. They give some interesting texture to the finished piece.

Working this way taught me tons about values! So much so that I always start with a white value study when working on black. Not only does it help to brighten the highlights but all the hard work is done with the value study, adding color at this point is nothing but FUN, FUN, FUN!

The only way to achieve the values is by pressure of the white pencil.

If you want to try the reverse, black pencil on white paper, see the work of Ann James Massey,

Sunday, November 25, 2007

The aspect of this painting that makes it a small painting instead of a miniature is the scale. These peppers were very small to begin with, and they are not 1/6 th scale. The gourd also doesn't meet the scale requirements.

Wednesday, November 21, 2007

I have finally uploaded the pictures I took in Mexico. My photography skills are not all that skilled, maybe that's why I became an artist. I see so much more than when I view the photograph later. But here are two that I thought were of interest.

This first one is from the Cacti del Mundo in Cabo. It was a lovely botanic garden of nothing but cactus. This little number caught my eye, as it looks just like plaid material (the quilter in me made this observation). Nature is so diverse and incredible in its creations. One has to wonder what purpose the plaid pattern serves! I would have loved to stay longer at the cactus garden, however, we were on the tour bus and under tight time constraints. I think one of my biggest fears was missing the darn bus and therefore the ship.

The second is the restaurant in Cabo del San Jose where June and I ate. Lovely, colorful patio. Wish we would have had more time to linger in this quaint little village, but again the tour bus thing. Don't do the tour bus thing!

Almost everything manmade in Mexico is colorful, even the cemetaries, where family members have built little structures in bright hues around the graves. Maybe they paint with beautiful colors because the terrain is so brown and dusty?

Tuesday, November 20, 2007

My first day of blogging, thanks to some inspiration from a dear new friend I met on my latest adventure...teaching colored pencil on a Mexican Riviera cruise the first week of Nov.

It was my first cruise and I just fell in love with the whole experience. A little too much food, but it was sooooo good. Especially the "artwork" at dinnertime....in other words, the desserts! If you take the stairs instead of the elevators, and walk around the Promenade Deck (3 laps = 1 mile) you might just come home missing a few pounds.

I was one of three instructors and I taught my workshop the last day at sea. We had a grand time, and they were a great group of artists....some very accomplished. I haven't taught for awhile due to some family issues, and I had forgotten how much I love teaching. Above is my version of the finished product that my students worked on. All of their "sensual" peaches were gorgeous and I was so pleased with their results. Part of the instruction was how to create circulism with colored pencil. It is a technique that I first learned while reading about Maggie Toole, http://www.maggietoole.com/

Many colored pencil artists have tried circulism, some call it something else, but I think everyone that tries it finds they have their own look to the circular stroke. It's a bit like handwriting. Your "a" is the same as my "a" but they are definitely recognizable and attributable to the writer by those with a discerning eye.